OPINION | Dear Mr. President, Please Don’t Mess Up This Time

Congratulations, Professor Peter Mutharika, on your swearing-in. This Saturday, Malawi gets another episode of “The Mutharika Presidency”—a sequel nobody was sure would ever be made.

Like all sequels, the plot is familiar, the cast looks the same, and the audience—Malawians—are watching closely, popcorn in hand, wondering: Will this one be any better than the last?

Because, let’s be honest, Mr. President, the first season did not end well. The closing credits were filled with scenes of arrogance, stubbornness, and tone-deaf leadership. Malawians remember a State House where advisers doubled as cheerleaders, where truth was an endangered species, and where the man elected to serve the people was often misled, misinformed, and isolated.

Now the rumours are swirling that many of those same faces are coming back—like ghosts from a political horror movie. These are the men and women who made you look unapproachable, who whispered half-truths in your ear, and who polished lies until they sparkled like diamonds. Bringing them back would not just be bad politics; it would be a national insult. Malawians are not in the mood for another rerun.

The State House, Mr. President, is not a retirement home for failed strategists or a recycling plant for political loyalists. It must be a place where the President hears the truth, however bitter, and where the people’s pulse is felt every single day. If those surrounding you are afraid to tell you when you are wrong, they are not advisers—they are courtiers. And Malawi has suffered enough under courtiers.

Then there is the small but poisonous matter of qualifications. Mr. President, you lead a country brimming with bright, hardworking professionals. Yet too often, those entrusted with leading institutions are chosen not because of competence, but because of connections. Some have no postgraduate qualifications. Others parade around with Master’s degrees that look like they were ordered online with free shipping.

The Henry Kachaje saga remains Exhibit A: a man elevated to high office while holding credentials that made Malawi the punchline of its own joke—“a Master’s degree in survival, windmills, and injections.” We laughed, because crying would have been too painful. But the truth is, every time such appointments are made, Malawi’s credibility sinks lower. If your new administration wants to win respect, let merit, not mediocrity, be the standard.

And speaking of mediocrity, let’s talk about the civil service. The machinery of government is supposed to be the engine that turns your vision into reality. Instead, it has become a scrapyard of tired Principal Secretaries and Directors, many of whom are content to collect a salary while contributing little more than bureaucratic red tape. Some are outright saboteurs. Others are simply clock-watchers, waiting for retirement.

Mr. President, if you want Malawians to believe this is a new chapter, start by cleansing the civil service. Remove the deadwood. Bring in fresh, capable leaders who understand that government exists to serve Malawians, not themselves. Reforming the civil service will not be easy, but it is impossible to govern effectively without doing so.

Now, let us be blunt. Malawians have not forgotten. They remember the arrogance of the last administration, the stubborn refusal to listen, and the endless excuses for failure. What they are giving you today is not a blank cheque. It is a probation period. They want to see whether you have learned from the past, whether you will surround yourself with truth-tellers, whether you will appoint leaders of proven competence, and whether you will finally drain the swamp of a civil service bloated with incompetence.

Mr. President, you have one priceless opportunity to write a different script. Do not waste it by hiring the same cast that ruined the first season. Do not waste it by rewarding mediocrity disguised as loyalty. Do not waste it by pretending that Malawians will settle for less simply because they are used to disappointment.

Malawians are patient, but they are not fools. They know what competence looks like. They know what honesty sounds like. And they can tell when a government is serious about reform—or when it is recycling the same tired actors.

So here we are: Inauguration Day. The cameras are flashing, the anthems are playing, and the promises are flowing. But very soon, the music will stop, and the real work will begin. That is when Malawians will judge you, Mr. President—not by your speeches, but by your appointments, your choices, and your willingness to clean house.

Do not take Malawians for granted again. They may forgive, but this time, they will not forget.

 

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :